The 720-class freighter had been in the family since the collapse of Ghtroc Industries, an Outer Rim manufacturing company. The line of light-freighters had gained a significant following, enough for the PallanÚn-Davad family to place one into their private collection, where it would lay dormant until recently, when his mother ordered a re-haul. The Spirit of the Maw had been refurbished to add some teeth, including two mini-turbolasers and a couple of laser turrets. Lucas boarded the ship and found it immediately to his liking. It lacked the general essence of a KDY design, but with the added updates, it was enough to make him feel at home.

Dreda tread slowly behind him, taking the time to gather the new sensory information, no doubt its processor was working ten times more than the average unit, but it seemed to be keeping up just fine. Lucas sat in the pilot's chair and for the first time, he was able to relax. He thought about the Blight Leaper and its turnover crew rate. He had seen so many, and now, he was alone. He thought about contacting Tseneca, letting her know that he was okay, but decided that it wasn't the time. She had sensed what he was going through and for now, that would be enough.

Lucas powered up the engines, before running several system checks. "Dreda, why don't you bring up the navigational computers and lay in a course for the Colonies Region. We'll get to Devaron, but we need to locate several crew members first." He already had a list of their names, all agents or contacts of Lumiya. They were die-hard loyal and could be trusted to the end goal with their lives. Once the Maw was fully manned, they would begin what was laid out for them.

The cockpit was pristine, the metallic consoles crisp and the displays vibrant. He watched as Dreda walked over to one of the piloting consoles and interacted with it directly. It would be its first time interacting with another computer. "Which planet should I tell the navigational computer we are looking for?"

Lucas scrolled through the list. There were four individuals, all of them equally distanced apart. He set the list down and thought for a moment, the Force answering the droid's question. "Giju. By the looks of it, we're going to have a Herglic onboard..." The droid was silent, but Lucas didn't mind. He hadn't slept since he arrived on Kuat and while he wanted to say good-bye to his father, he couldn't. He was having difficulty looking him in the face, knowing that he had killed the AmmaRa. Lucas sighed, and though the droid didn't have a test run, he got up. "Plot the course for Diju and don't get us killed in the process. Follow the flight path my mother laid out for us. I'm going to test out the bunk."

"How long should I stay on duty?"

"Until I return. Once the ship enters hyperspace, why don't you explore and run a battle simulation. I want you as acquainted with this ship as well as I am." Lucas had favored this particular vessel since his childhood, so it was not a big surprise that his mother gave it to him. His sister had loved the TIE fighters and his brother the Corvette-class vessels, but there was something about this ship. But the joy that had taken place in the Cybernetics Lab was long gone and even the childhood memories of this vessel couldn't bring him from his dark depression.

"Dreda, I don't want to disturbed unless it is absolutely necessary. Do you have any questions?"

The Spirit of the Maw traveled through hyperspace flawlessly, but not due to its original manufactured design, but a concept stabilizer that was being tested for future luxury liner ships. Lucas woke when Dreda paged him to the cockpit, the illuminated orb of Giju before them. Lucas transmitted his landing codes while signalling Lumiya's agent on the surface to prepare for their arrival, only to receive a transmission requesting they meet the man in a traveler's bar. Lucas had long spent his freetime as a Jedi in these type of surroundings, often enjoying life and the company of galactic strangers.

But somehow, he sensed through the Force, this wasn't going to be fun. "There is a 98.75 percent chance this is a trap."

"It's time to spring the trap." Lucas said as the atmosphere broke over the ship.

"Pardon?" Dreda asked, his vocal tone a little confused.

"Nothing, just something Master Skywalker had said once." Lucas sighed, "Anakin actually says it a lot."

"Master Solo is a good friend of the family."

"Yes, he is." Lucas sighed, though had no intention of filling the droid in on the latest turn of events. "Though you will never take orders from him." Lucas had to clarify.

"Understood." The droid said as the planetary surface started to come into view. It was a dismal sight and the closer they got, the more the Force told him to turn around and go the other way....

Lucas entered the cabin, a junction serving as a meeting place for the team he had assembled, and leaned against the wall. The droideka clinked in behind him, its dark orbs observing the final participants. Slice, the criminal master-slicer, Biggs a brute with lethal capabilities that were rarely matched, a Kamino native who went by Aiou, and pair of dugs, Ral and P'ok. Kora was also present, a slim human female with purple hair. She was from Kuat, and had worked on several of his mother's more clandestine assignments. "I will require one more test."

They all exchanged looks, "You said that before. What makes this the last one?" The exasperated bounty hunter Biggs growled, his hands folding in on each other.

Lucas shot him a dangerous glance, "We have to test our latest asset," he looked towards Slice who was sitting with her legs crossed, adjusting her cybernetic implants. "We're going to Bespin."

"I know who she is." Lucas said, "Relax. I've adjusted the transponder to this ship, it'll pass their sensor sweeps."

"How did-"

"Don't worry about it. Slice, you're going to have to get into the footage from Cloud City. I know the city was lost, but we saw Imperials downloading massive amounts of information. Coral said something about trying to retrieve holo-footage of a meeting between a couple of Republic generals that had taken place a week earlier."

"What good would that do?" Slice snapped, "It's outdated by now."

"I'm looking for footage that was taken just before the city was destroyed. It's likely they backed up the entire archive, including the live footage of the city being destroyed. I have to know if someone made it off the city... alive." Lucas said, turning to his droideka, "Get the ship into hyperspace...now." It folded into its ball-form and rolled towards the cockpit. Seconds later, the ship was lifting off from the planet, and pushing through Tatooine's atmosphere. "Look, I know this is strange, but it needs to be down."

"For Lady Lumiya? Or for you?" Kora asked, her tone just below rebellious.

"Both." Lucas said curiously, "At least I hope so. With any luck, we might be able to provide the Emperor with some kind of map of territory inside the True Empire. And that would serve the Dark Lady extremely well. Until then, sleep, rest...do whatever, just be prepared and at the top of your game. If you fail, I will kill you myself." Lucas turned, pivoting on his heels, and returned to his room. It was important that he meditate again.

He knew he needed to contact his master soon, but he needed to take care of this first. If Jonas was alive... it could change everything.

The Spirit of the Maw dropped from hyperspace, Lucas piloting the ship, gliding it over a couple of Star Destroyers that had been in front of them. Kora looked around, he could sense she was nervous, but she was smart enough not to reveal those feelings. Lucas breathed and relaxed a little himself. "Told you." He quipped, tossing her a smirk. It reminded him a little of the engagements he would have with Tseneca Lowry-Fink on the Blight Leaper, they always seemed to be at odds in situations like this, yet they had always managed to prevail. In the end, at least.

Now, it would seem as though they were no longer on the same side. He didn't know that for sure, but he sensed she wasn't exactly along for the ride on his galactic domination plans. He pushed her aside and out of his mind, but with empty thoughts came the painful reminder of what had happened on Bespin.

"I'm guessing its the larger class, sitting on the otherside of the planet." Even though Cloud City had been destroyed, the remaining mining stations continued their defense against the Empire. By now, it was all over. The planet had been ravaged, what resources were there, had been taken.

"Commander Krauss is still in the sector, but she is not aboard that ship..." Lucas said curiously, "That probably isn't the flagship." Lucas reached out, his hands gliding over the console. "That one."

"Uh, yes, Lieutenant Porkins." Lucas said, he could sense the tension in his crew, some of which were now listening as the cockpit door had opened. "I have a data transfer for Commander Krauss on the Kashyyyk system. Intel reports."

The man on the viewscreen nodded, "Excellent. Begin transmission."

Lucas accessed the information and begun the upload. He also activated a secondary program. He closed his eyes, reaching out in the space between them, and distracted the Lieutenant from his true intent with the Force. After several minutes, the officer thanked him and closed off the communication channel.

"Koda, get us out of here." Lucas said, rising from the pilot's chair. His eyes glanced over those who were peeking into the cockpit. "Slice, assist Koda in navigating towards the Ssi-Ruuk homeworld."

"As you wish," Slice said, "But my talents may be better suited at dissecting the information you retrieved."

"Retrieved?" Koda asked.

"Yes, while our friend, Porkins, was taking in a couple system scans of the Kashyyyk system, Slice downloaded large chunks from their nav-computer, including a portion of their database." Lucas breathed, "I will sift through the information. For now, we did our duty."

Lucas turned towards his cabin room, when Kora called to him. "Lucas." She breathed a couple of times, "Did we just sell out the wookiees to the True Empire?"

Lucas dropped his head. "We're in a war, Kora. The more resources the True Empire devotes to fighting the New Republic.... the better for my people." What he didn't say, was that it also masked his true purpose. He was sure Jonas Eisley was still alive, only he was deep behind enemy lines. Lucas continued towards his bed and collapsed into it. He retrieved a nearby datapad and accessed the information he had retrieved from the KaVar.... While slipping into a battle zone was difficult, the next phase of his plan was even more dangerous.

He broke his studies with the intel and made contact with a draped holographic image, "My master..." Lucas said, kneeling before her. "Kashyyyk has been delivered to Commander Krauss, and in exchange, I have the readouts of the prison world. I believe that is where they are keeping Jonas."

"You have done well, my apprentice." Lumiya said, her hands touching her chin in thought. "I wish to accompany you to the prison world."

"I can handle this," Lucas breathed, quickly adding, "My master."

"There are too many things at stake for you to handle this alone, my apprentice. While extremely gifted, you have much to learn." As if to let that set in, she paused. "I await in the Ssi-Ruuk system." The comm channel ended with the hologram flickering away.

How did she know Lucas was already heading there?

It didn't matter, for now, Lucas needed her. He returned to his bed and closed his eyes. It could have been an hour or so, but he finally fell asleep.